Police are sharpening their focus on two thieves who damaged and then stole parts of a famous cactus from a Perth shop.
Two masked men were caught on CCTV hacking limbs off the four-metre cactus outside the Ginger Owl boutique on North Street in Swanbourne on Saturday night.
The three-year-old Peruvian apple cactus has become a social media sensation, photographed by bloggers, influencers and even newlyweds.
Employee Mieli Smith said they had raised the cactus from scratch, with the arm which was destroyed taking years to grow.
“They just destroyed it like it was pretty much nothing. They left chunks and pieces along the floor. It was just everywhere, it was a hot mess,” she told 9News.
“We have a full arm of the cactus gone, which is three-to-four metres high and that has taken over three years to grow.”
“It’s heartbreaking, especially when so much work goes into our shop,”
The plant was targeted in a similar attack in July 2021, when a man took to it with a bucket and a machete.
